And the Army went rolling along.

September 11th, 2001.

I was painting houses when the towers fell, in a sherwin williams getting paint when the TV talked about an attack. I had been considering joining the Army for years. I had actually joined the active army in 1998 but decided to finish college. When the attack came I had to decide if I wanted to be the person who does something or lets other do it for me. The answer to that questions changed my life in so many ways. It brought me my career, unforgettable memories, a new family, and a sense of purpose. Protect those who cannot protect themselves. Go fight in the desert so others would not have too. And so I did and twenty years later it is still a large part of my life.

Over there.

I followed in my grand fathers and fathers footsteps, I chose to be a warrior, a shield maiden like my ancestors. I spent 23 months on orders and 18 months in Iraq in my first deployment to a theater of war.

What I lost and what I gained.

I enlisted in the infantry, I was trained to be a ground soldier. In the next years I became an officer and joined the Armor core, commanding a platoon of Abrams tanks was the definition of what I dreamt of being a warrior. Yet the gods had other plans. One of the leaders I most respected offered me a chance several years in to train into the field of intelligence. It was something I had not considered but I took the chance and have only looked back a few times (I miss the tank) :)

Intel taught me so many new facets of soldiery, tactics, strategy that I made in my full time career and profession. It eventually landed my into the working in cyber security while staying within the field of intelligence.

The military took things too, I had a marriage end badly, I lost time with family and friends, and my country sort of moved on without me. Nothing is achieved without sacrifice, the life I have now I would not trade. The lessons I have learned, the moments I had to overcome are what shaped me. Today, I am mentally tough, physically strong, resilient, empathetic, all while never loosing my passionate spirt, creative mind, and determination to relentlessly pursue my goals.

Today I count myself lucky and privileged to have served with such a variety of warriors that too gave up some or all of their freedom to secure it for others.